Secretary General says Kosovo volatile, Pakistan restive
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on January 10 expressed optimism for the situation in Afghanistan amid criticism of allies’ apathy in the region. Welcoming a recent decision by the United States to send an extra 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan, de Hoop Scheffer called for patience and cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions on the situation in the country.
Addressing journalists at a New Year reception hosted by NATO, de Hoop Scheffer denied that allies “are not active enough” adding, “If you look at the recent past, you see a number of allies stepping up to the plate. Even yesterday, we heard that Poland has made a very substantial and considerable offer, including eight helicopters, which is a lot, and ground forces for Afghanistan.”
“Nations like Slovakia, Hungary, Georgia, France, the Czech Republic, Australia, Norway, Singapore, Azerbaijan - all of course according to their capability - ...have recently contributed or are contributing forces,” he said. “The Afghan National Army is doing better and better. Health care is up. Child mortality is down. Two-thirds of villages in Afghanistan have received development projects worth up to USD 50,000. Comparing situation in 2001 to start of 2008, lots of progress has been made, but the problem is that we, the international community has no patience. We want to see instant progress, but that is not possible. We need ‘patience.’ This is a long-term commitment,” he said.
Stressing, “The answer in Afghanistan is not military but civilian. Reconstruction and development is something for the long-haul,” the Secretary General reiterated that Afghanistan is the key in the fight against terrorism.
According to NATO figures, the number of troops in ISAF - now provided by 39 nations - rose from around 33,000 in January 2007, to almost 42,000 by December. With around 140 suicide attacks, 2007 was the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001, according to a United Nations survey.
Answering a journalist’s question, de Hoop Scheffer expressed concern over the situation in Pakistan. “That’s the situation in Pakistan, it’s very relevant for the NATO operation, the ISAF operation in Afghanistan.”
Refusing to comment on the internal situation in Pakistan, the Secretary General said, “I’ll not comment on the internal situation in Pakistan. That’s not up to me. What is important is that those people who are trying to make life in Afghanistan more complicated than it already is, are adequately dealt with in Pakistan as well.”
On the issue of Kosovo, Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer said NATO had a clear “key” role in Kosovo and “KFOR will stay and protect minorities and majorities alike.” Highlighting the presence of about “16,000” peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, the Secretary General said, “KFOR is there to stay with 1244 UN resolution... (and will stay) unless there is another resolution from United Nations.”
“The situation (in Kosovo) is volatile now ... (But) Let nobody be under the illusion that he or she could get his way by violent means,” the NATO chief said. “Although I prefer a negotiated solution, the chance seems remote now,” he added.
Asked to comment on the changes if the European Union will send its own mission to Kosovo, de Hoop Scheffer told journalists, “KFOR’s mandate as such will not change ...But the ESDP mission, as you know, when it would come, would have a police element and KFOR is not a police force in Kosovo.”
He described the need to have a close EU-NATO cooperation in Kosovo as “very important” and said all of the Western Balkans should one day be allowed to join NATO and the EU. Kosovo, a province of 2.2 million, has been under UN administration since 1999, when NATO bombs stopped Serbian ethnic cleansing in the area.
Commenting on the Western Balkans in general, the Secretary General said, “Now, we have ...the only recipe, in my opinion, which will create lasting stability and security in the Balkans is the road to Euro- Atlantic integration. And at the end of the day, and I don’t know when the end of the day will come, but my ideal would be that I see all those countries in the European Union and in NATO. That is the only recipe for stability.”
NATO leaders are due to meet in Bucharest, Romania, for a summit scheduled to take place on April 2-4. The NATO chief de Hoop Scheffer said the summit would address “future threats and challenges,” such as cyber defence and energy security, and would consider the applications of three potential new member states: Albania, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Saying, “the level of scrutiny has never been more intense,” and without committing himself on their chances to join the alliance this spring, the Secretary General urged them to continue reforms up to “the last moment.” “NATO allies will take a political decision,” he added.
Asked to comment on others (Georgia and Ukraine), de Hoop Scheffer said, “Ukraine has a distinctive partnership, Intensified Dialogue. So has Georgia, Intensified Dialogue. We should use that to the full ...I do not know what Bucharest exactly will result in as far as Ukraine and Georgia are concerned. For the moment my advice would be let’s at least use the Intensified Dialogue we have with Ukraine and with Georgia to the full. And I say again we’ll certainly, and I’ll certainly establish sooner rather than later contacts with the new Ukrainian government and with the Georgian government for that matter, after the moment there is a new Georgian government.”
Showing posts with label Western. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Western. Show all posts
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Bakoyannis’ pragmatic ideas
Greece paves way for European prospects of Western Balkans
The citizens of the Western Balkans need a specific vision to feel welcome into the fold of the European Union while the concerned governments need to embark on specific road with a goal none other than the EU, according to a Greek package with five specific proposals on giving a new impetus to the European course of Western Balkan countries.
After presenting the proposals to the European Union’s General Affairs Council in Brussels on November 19, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said that Greece took the opportunity of tabling a very specific new initiative on the European prospects of the Western Balkans. She said that the time is very difficult for the Western Balkans and there is an urgent need for a specific vision and a specific goal than can be none other than the European vision.
Calling on the governments of 27 member states and the executive arm, the European Commission to explore the possibility to charter a path of specific moves to implement the Greek proposals, the Greek foreign minister stressed the need to convey a loud and clear welcome message to all the people of the Western Balkans.
“We believe that we will be having the possibility of discussing this proposal in more detail in December at the EU summit,” she said. Bakoyannis added that the initial response by her European counterparts, and by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, was very positive. “We all realise that it is a difficult period that requires a substantive, aggressive and effective European policy on this issue,” she said.
Recalling that in 1999, Greece had formulated a comprehensive policy, the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and in 2003, the Thessaloniki Agenda took it a step further along the elements inspired by the enlargement process, the Greek Foreign minister Bakoyannis reiterated the need to take “some new courageous decisions on the Western Balkans.”
Lamenting today’s EU accession prospect for the Western Balkans appearing distant and even uncertain, Bakoyannis said, “A clear prospect of membership is the most important and perhaps the most effective tool at out disposal, to help the countries of the Western Balkans overcome state weaknesses and political, social and economic challenges, and catch up with the rest of Europe.”
Answering journalists’ questions, Bakoyannis said, “We need to send a positive message to the whole region that they are not left alone there and we must do it by giving practical and tangible signals.” “We need to have a specific road map for moving from today’s position to further.”
Presenting the fivepoint proposal package also nicknamed “Thessaloniki II” to the journalists, George Koumoutsakos, spokesman of Greek foreign ministry summarised it as follows:
- Within this framework and as a first step, the EU should immediately sign Stabilisation and Association Agreements with Serbia and at the earliest with Bosnia Herzegovina: the two countries remaining within which internal problems haven’t permitted such a positive step so far
- Serbia, in the first place, followed by the rest of the countries that would have a SA Agreement but no candidate status, should be encouraged to apply for membership. The Commission could present the avis on the application in the fall of 2008. The December European Council of 2008 could decide about granting the candidate status to any applicant country
- A date for the start of Accession negotiations will be decided later on, depending on the progress on fulfillment of specific benchmarks that will be set. Any additional step in the accession process will depend on each country’s progress in meeting the specific and tailormade requirements set by the EU in full application of the principle of conditionality
- However, in order to have, through the European perspective, the effect we desire, we should combine it with measures that would translated this perspective into something practical and tangible for the peoples of the region. Something that corresponds to their basic requests. Already in Thessaloniki we declared, “We were aware of the importance the peoples and governments of the region attach to the perspective of liberalisation of the visa regime.” We had promised to help the countries to deal with these issues to make such a move possible. Following the visa facilitation agreements, that we signed this year, the EU should not provide the countries of the region with a road mal that would eventually lead to the visa liberalisation: A series of concrete and measureable benchmarks and an outline of the necessary steps with an indicative timetable
- Additional financial resources will also be necessary. Within out actual budgetary obligations, we should make full use of the “principle of flexibility” in order to guarantee that any additional available fund will be directed, as a priority, to the region of the Western Balkans. Furthermore and in the light of the net financial perspectives, we should explore all possibilities that would allow a substantial increase of aid, in an effort to meet the increasing needs and serve our own priorities, in this sensitive region at this very delicate of time.
The citizens of the Western Balkans need a specific vision to feel welcome into the fold of the European Union while the concerned governments need to embark on specific road with a goal none other than the EU, according to a Greek package with five specific proposals on giving a new impetus to the European course of Western Balkan countries.
After presenting the proposals to the European Union’s General Affairs Council in Brussels on November 19, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said that Greece took the opportunity of tabling a very specific new initiative on the European prospects of the Western Balkans. She said that the time is very difficult for the Western Balkans and there is an urgent need for a specific vision and a specific goal than can be none other than the European vision.
Calling on the governments of 27 member states and the executive arm, the European Commission to explore the possibility to charter a path of specific moves to implement the Greek proposals, the Greek foreign minister stressed the need to convey a loud and clear welcome message to all the people of the Western Balkans.
“We believe that we will be having the possibility of discussing this proposal in more detail in December at the EU summit,” she said. Bakoyannis added that the initial response by her European counterparts, and by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, was very positive. “We all realise that it is a difficult period that requires a substantive, aggressive and effective European policy on this issue,” she said.
Recalling that in 1999, Greece had formulated a comprehensive policy, the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and in 2003, the Thessaloniki Agenda took it a step further along the elements inspired by the enlargement process, the Greek Foreign minister Bakoyannis reiterated the need to take “some new courageous decisions on the Western Balkans.”
Lamenting today’s EU accession prospect for the Western Balkans appearing distant and even uncertain, Bakoyannis said, “A clear prospect of membership is the most important and perhaps the most effective tool at out disposal, to help the countries of the Western Balkans overcome state weaknesses and political, social and economic challenges, and catch up with the rest of Europe.”
Answering journalists’ questions, Bakoyannis said, “We need to send a positive message to the whole region that they are not left alone there and we must do it by giving practical and tangible signals.” “We need to have a specific road map for moving from today’s position to further.”
Presenting the fivepoint proposal package also nicknamed “Thessaloniki II” to the journalists, George Koumoutsakos, spokesman of Greek foreign ministry summarised it as follows:
- Within this framework and as a first step, the EU should immediately sign Stabilisation and Association Agreements with Serbia and at the earliest with Bosnia Herzegovina: the two countries remaining within which internal problems haven’t permitted such a positive step so far
- Serbia, in the first place, followed by the rest of the countries that would have a SA Agreement but no candidate status, should be encouraged to apply for membership. The Commission could present the avis on the application in the fall of 2008. The December European Council of 2008 could decide about granting the candidate status to any applicant country
- A date for the start of Accession negotiations will be decided later on, depending on the progress on fulfillment of specific benchmarks that will be set. Any additional step in the accession process will depend on each country’s progress in meeting the specific and tailormade requirements set by the EU in full application of the principle of conditionality
- However, in order to have, through the European perspective, the effect we desire, we should combine it with measures that would translated this perspective into something practical and tangible for the peoples of the region. Something that corresponds to their basic requests. Already in Thessaloniki we declared, “We were aware of the importance the peoples and governments of the region attach to the perspective of liberalisation of the visa regime.” We had promised to help the countries to deal with these issues to make such a move possible. Following the visa facilitation agreements, that we signed this year, the EU should not provide the countries of the region with a road mal that would eventually lead to the visa liberalisation: A series of concrete and measureable benchmarks and an outline of the necessary steps with an indicative timetable
- Additional financial resources will also be necessary. Within out actual budgetary obligations, we should make full use of the “principle of flexibility” in order to guarantee that any additional available fund will be directed, as a priority, to the region of the Western Balkans. Furthermore and in the light of the net financial perspectives, we should explore all possibilities that would allow a substantial increase of aid, in an effort to meet the increasing needs and serve our own priorities, in this sensitive region at this very delicate of time.
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